1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to toll fee tracking systems and methods and, more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to toll fee tracking systems and methods for automatic, non-contact, high-speed toll fee tracking of vehicular tolls associated with a toll tracking device used by vehicle operators.
2. History of Related Art
The crowding of highways within metropolitan areas has resulted in the development of additional traffic arteries known as toll roads. Toll roads have become increasingly popular, however, they require the payment of a toll fee for use by vehicular occupants. The collection of tolls by conventional means has had a negative effect upon highway throughput and safety. Congestion and long backups on toll plazas are becoming more common. Such conditions involve a significant economic cost, through lost time and reduced productivity. Moreover, serious accidents at toll plazas, caused by operators or mechanical failures, have also increased in frequency.
Certain toll authorities have attempted to respond to these problems by providing coin-operated toll collection devices, or by instituting a toll-plate system in which toll-takers visually inspect each incoming vehicle for an appropriate toll plate or sticker. Coin operated toll collection systems, however, do little to increase throughput, and are susceptible to fraud through the use of counterfeit coins. Toll-plate systems suffer the same deficiencies, requiring each vehicle to slow sharply while entering the visual inspection area. In later years, a development ensued that revolutionized toll road travel. This was the development of the toll fee tracking device.
One example of a toll fee tracking device is set forth and shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,241 issued Oct. 8, 1985. This patent relates to an electronic identification and recognition system that includes a portable card having a circuit therein for generating and transmitting an identifying signal. The identifying signal includes predetermined frequency pulses. The card functions in cooperation with a reader which radiates a radio frequency carrier signal received by an antenna in the card. This signal is used both to power the circuit of the card and to provide the basic frequency signal which is modified to generate secondary frequency signals which are transmitted back to the reader in a predetermined sequence identifying the card.
Today, those individuals who frequently use toll roads are now prone to the purchase of toll fee tracking device. The toll fee tracking device allows the vehicular occupant to bypass the cash only toll gate and, in many instances, the vehicle can maintain its normal speed as it traverses the toll gate wherein the passage of the toll fee tracking device is recorded. The popularity of the toll fee tracking device has expanded to the point that the normal user of the toll fee tracking device can be frustrated by the lines at toll gates when the toll fee tracking device is not available. Unavailability of a toll fee tracking device can be for numerous reasons, not the least of which is the use of rental cars.
The rental car business is worldwide and continually expanding. Toll fee tracking devices are not, however, as known to the inventors hereof, available in rental cars. This is due, at least in part, to the fact that the charges for the toll fee tracking device are not typically generated in a manner allowing billing of the toll fee tracking device event during the duration of some car rentals. Typically toll fee tracking device invoices are delivered on a monthly basis while the toll fee data is not processed in a real-time. For business travelers, paying tolls in a rental car usually involves waiting at a toll gate with a live operator so that a receipt may be generated for later expense report purposes. Monthly toll fee invoices to car rental agencies reflecting use of a toll fee tracking device in a given vehicle over a period of time would inherently create a plethora of problems, not the least of which would be collection of toll fees by a vehicle renter who has long since turned in his or her expense report. Moreover, the current economic system for rental agencies typically requires that the entire financial transaction be completed at the time of turning in the rental car, unless some damage has occurred relative to the use thereof. Therefore, there is a need for a method and system facilitating use of, and financial accountability for, a toll fee tracking device used by vehicle operators such as, for example, rental car users.